Grade 3 Community News

Dear Grade 3 families, 

Welcome back to Term 4! We hope everyone had a wonderful and restful break and enjoyed some quality time together. It has been fantastic to see the students return to school refreshed, enthusiastic and ready for another exciting term of learning. 

Term 4 is set to be a busy and rewarding term as we continue to build on the skills and knowledge students have developed throughout the year. We look forward to supporting students as they take on new challenges, strengthen their independence and celebrate their achievements throughout the final term of Grade 3. 

English

In English, we have continued on our journey reading The Wild Robot. The students have loved discovering what happens to Roz and the animals on the island. As they read, they developed their inference skills by answering questions, using clues from the text and thinking carefully about what the author was suggesting rather than simply what was stated.

Students have continued to develop their reading fluency through practiced repeated reading. Through rereading familiar texts, they develop their accuracy, expression, pace and confidence when reading aloud. The students support one another by giving respectful feedback to their partner on what they did well and what they could improve on. It is so amazing to see them take ownership of their learning and learn from one another!

In Sentence Level Writing, students learned about connectives and how they can be used to link ideas, sentences and paragraphs. They explored different types of connectives, including addition to add more information, time to show the sequence of events, cause and effect to explain how events are connected, and contrast to show a change or difference in direction. Using their knowledge of The Wild Robot, students practised selecting appropriate connectives to make their writing clearer, more cohesive and engaging.

In Text Level Writing, students have been building their non-fiction knowledge about robots as they prepare to write the body paragraphs of a persuasive letter. They explored how to use high-modality language to make their arguments stronger and more convincing. Students structured their paragraphs using the PEPS structure – Point, Explanation, Purpose and Summary – to clearly communicate and support their ideas.

In Grammar, students have learned about apostrophes in contractions. They explored how an apostrophe showed where letters had been omitted when two words were shortened into one, such as do not → don’t and cannot → can’t.

Mathematics

In Mathematics, students have continued to build on the skills and knowledge developed throughout Term 3. They have been introduced to a new type of worded problem known as an ‘equal groups’ problem. Students have explored a variety of equal groups problems and have shown their working out using number bonds and addition/subtraction strategies.

Students have also progressed to solving long division problems involving larger numbers, applying the strategies and processes they developed when working with smaller numbers. They have continued to follow the three key steps of long division - divide, multiply and subtract - to solve these problems accurately.

Our students have also completed a formative assessment to demonstrate their understanding of the skills and concepts they have developed over the past few weeks in Number and Algebra. This included long division, subtraction across internal zeroes, vertical multiplication with regrouping and continuing branching patterns. They have worked incredibly hard, and we could not be more proud of their ongoing effort and progress!

Humanities

In Humanities, our Grade 3 students have begun their exciting new unit on Ancient Greece! Students have thoroughly enjoyed discovering what life was like in Ancient Greece and were fascinated to learn that this civilisation began around 2,500 years ago. They have been introduced to the terms BCE (Before Common Era) and CE (Common Era) and have used these to create and interpret timelines, identifying significant dates and events from Ancient Greek history.

Students have also explored the geographical location of Ancient Greece and learned about the different city-states that made up the region. They have enjoyed making connections to their prior learning from Grade 2, where they had explored Greek mythology and learned about some of the gods and goddesses worshipped by the Ancient Greeks.

Reminders

• As we enter Term 4, a reminder that all students are required to wear a hat when outside. This helps ensure that everyone stays safe and SunSmart while enjoying outdoor activities. Please ensure that students are coming to school with their hat (labelled with their name, if possible). 
• The Grade 3 students have an upcoming incursion in Week 3, on Tuesday the 20th of October; ‘Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO) Jams in Schools’. They will learn about and listen to the instruments of a Symphony Orchestra, having an 

• opportunity to play along with the musicians and will even get a chance to create their own piece of music. This is a free incursion that will be held in the school gym.
• Our final novel study of Grade 3 will begin in Week 5 (Monday 2nd November). We will be reading His Name Was Walter by Emily Rodda. This book can be purchased online at Amazon or in local bookstores. We are already so excited to read this book based on its beautiful front cover! 

Kind regards,

PLC3